Kukla's Korner Hockey

Category: Ottawa-Senators

There will be a plenty of interest in winger Chris Neil and defenceman Filip Kuba, who are both scheduled to become unrestricted free agents on July 1.

While Neil’s rugged style will appeal to a number of teams, Kuba has been the Senators’ top blueliner.

Sun Media has confirmed that the 31-year-old Kuba would have to approve any deal because he has a no-trade clause that he waived to come to Ottawa from the Lightning….

Ottawa will also get calls about the availibility of winger Antoine Vermette and defenceman Christoph Schubert, who have both been inconsistent this season.

Murray said he will consider trades for prospects and draft picks at the deadline.

“I was looking at our draft (record) from the last four or five years and they haven’t been great, but I feel good about last year. We have a chance to get a player or two out of each draft and that’s about all,” said Murray.

The move was less than a shock, considering Ottawa has been languishing at the bottom of the NHL standings for months. But it doesn’t speak to the real problem with the Sens – namely, the holy trinity of salary cap killers that is Jason Spezza, Dany Heatley and Daniel Alfredsson.

Much like the Tampa Bay Lightning painfully learned, the Sens need to understand teams simply can’t devote the bulk of their cap room to three elite forwards and have enough left over to address the other needs of their team.

TUC is still trying to figure out what Mr. Eugene’s deal is. One day he’s venting and applying completely inappropriate analogies to the Senators’ woes; the next he’s on the radio acting so sickeningly sweet and positive you’d think he was freelancing for Disney…or a chiropractor.

Look, I get that the guy has to pull for the team—after all, he’s the one who’s ponying up for them. But no one’s forcing him to open his mouth right now, and therein lies the rub. These days, Ottawa fans don’t want to hear that this team has a legitimate shot at a playoff berth, a lengthy post-season run, or God forbid, a Stanley Cup victory.

How could anybody possibly suggest a team that has Daniel Alfredsson, Dany Heatley and Jason Spezza doesn’t have the foundation for a rock solid team?

Now you may not be a fan of any or all of them, but there is no denying when they are on their game, they form one of the best lines in the National Hockey League. Problem is, the Senators are so thin up front, coach Craig Hartsburgh has had to resort to separating the trio in an effort to spread the scoring around. That has not proven successful.

What the Senators need is really quite simple: Proven goaltending, a better defence and secondary scoring.

Senators coach Craig Hartsburg couldn’t find the single word to describe his team’s play last night.

We’ll do it for him: Atrocious, brutal, cruddy, deplorable ... you get the point.

The Senators reverted to the uninspired hockey that has haunted them so many times this season and they heard the jeers as they left the ice following a 4-1 loss to the Devils at Scotiabank Place….

“In the third period, we lost every battle. It wasn’t even close,” said Hartsburg. “When we talk about inconsistency in our game, that’s usually where it starts. It’s competing for pucks. We had a four-minute power play and never won a battle, never won a loose puck….”

With a leg dangling over each side of the fence, Bryan Murray claimed yesterday he is prepared to do both some buying and some selling.

But he also adamantly insisted he’s not about to put a stick of dynamite to the Senators roster.

“I read and hear the comments being made ‘blow up the team’ or ‘start over’ or ‘lose all the games so you can get the first pick’. I don’t think that does any of us any good at this point,” the Senators GM told an Ottawa media scrum yesterday. “Maybe four years down the road it may make a difference, but this year and next, I don’t think you people would be very happy writing and talking on a daily basis that we’ve gone into the tank or whatever….”

One of the things being discussed is the future of Ottawa Senators netminder Martin Gerber. He’s been waived by the team and is expected to meet today with Sens GM Bryan Murray to figure out what happens next.

The Flames are rumoured to be considering bringing the veteran in as insurance in case workhorse Miikka Kiprusoff succumbs to a late-season injury.

According to a colleague in the nation’s capital, the belief is the Flames might be interested if the Sens are willing to pick up half of the $1.5 million left on Gerber’s salary.

We said it before the season started and we’ll say it again now: Enjoy Michael Cammalleri the rest of the season, because on July 1, he’ll be a Toronto Maple Leaf, making almost as much money as Jarome Iginla.

While Schubert has been the most often mentioned defenceman in trade rumours, there is a strong belief Kuba, who can become an unrestricted free agent on July 1 and is making $3 million US, might be the club’s most attractive commodity. Several teams—including the Rangers, Devils, Flames, Flyers, Canucks, Panthers and Stars—are looking for blue-line help.

“I don’t know how much (the Senators) are going to be able to do,” said a league executive. “It’s so difficult to make deals right now. Not only does it have to be dollar-for-dollar, there’s no chance you can afford to take on salary.”

It will be up to the players to decide what direction Murray takes. Following yesterday’s action, the Senators are in 13th place in the Eastern Conference, 13 points behind the eighth-place Panthers.

Ottawa has teased its fans by earning five points in the last three games.

The Ottawa Senators captain happily paid the price for betting against Team Canada in the gold-medal game of the 2009 IIHF World Jjunior Championship. With his eldest son Hugo in tow, Alfredsson arrived on a snowmobile Monday afternoon to make good on a friendly wager with teammate Shean Donovan.

The two sides put a fun bet on the table for the tournament’s final game at Scotiabank Place. If Canada vanquished Alfredsson’s beloved Sweden, then the Senators captain had to clear off the snow from Donovan’s backyard rink. A victory by the Tre Kronor would have put the shovel in Donovan’s hands.